Hold
by ImagineWhatItWouldBeLikeToFly
Summary: It was as if he was looking at a wall. A beautiful, crumbling wall. With beautiful flowers and plenty of shameless battle wounds. /Oneshot\


**I do not own Sonny With A Chance. Pfft. **

"What's that?"

The question was simple and innocent. Not obnoxious or rude or typical. Just a question.

Sonny Munroe turned completely around from her stance at the top of the empty seats for the live audience at So Random! Standing behind her was Chad Dylan Cooper.

"What's what?" She could have mentioned it was Saturday and she was usually the only actress here on that day, but she waited first for his response. He pointed to her mouth as he nonchalantly slipped one hand in his back pocket, obviously attempting coolness.

"My…gum?" He nodded.

"Can I have a piece?"

"Sure, 2 seconds." Sonny dug inside her large purse, through notes and books and pencils and wrappers and receipts, searching for the pack of gum, opening it only to find a gaping hole staring back at her. She must have grabbed the last piece and not realized it.

Was that possible?

Chad looked thoroughly disappointed. "Does it still taste minty?" She nodded slowly, partly out of confusion, curiosity, and the pure awkwardness in the air. "Can I pay you for it?" Sonny blinked. Silently she pulled the barely chewed piece of gum out of her mouth and handed it to him. In exchange he offered her the money he promised but she refused and he shrugged, popping the gum in his mouth. "I owe you!" He called over his shoulder as he walked out into the main studio hallway, leaving Sonny standing over the empty set wondering what had just taken place.

"Ew."

Three hours later Chad returned to the same row of chairs in the back of the set as before, exhausted from his afternoon. Sonny was still there, her hair pulled back and he noted for the first time (with a smirk) that she was wearing sweats and a baggy t-shirt, appearing to have no makeup on. Blackmail.

"Thanks again." He said, taking the seat next to her.

"Anytime." She smiled over at him, but he could tell her mind was elsewhere when she quickly returned to scribbling something down in the notebook on her lap. Chad searched desperately for something to say. The only words he could think of were polite and caring, and that would have been out of character for him.

"Whatcha up to here?" He finally asked. Sonny looked up again, the end of her pencil in between her lips.

"Just writing. The emptiness really makes me think. Why're you here?" They both twisted in their seats to get a better view. He knew something was bothering her. She was talking in a hushed, level tone. There was no effort put into her words, it was as if she wasn't sunny at all.

"I had to pick up something for my interview and saw your car in the parking lot. I made a rare, fatal mistake of having garlic bread for lunch and thanks to you the headlines won't be talking about my hygiene issues." He smiled. He was trying to get her to laugh. Chad knew it. Sonny knew it, but the brunette only gave a small smile. She turned to look out over the empty rows and off into the distance. He couldn't decide if there were tears in her eyes or if they were always that shiny.

"Some things are never going to happen." She looked over at him and their eyes met for a moment. "You want them to and dream they will, and sometimes those dreams feel more real then reality, but then you wake up…and it was only a dream." She felt stupid and nervously pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

Chad nodded at her overcast words. "I know exactly what you mean." They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Why do you always wear those bracelets on that wrist?" He pointed to the dozens of bracelets on her right wrist, most from fans, some personal. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her without them there.

She shrugged. "Never really thought about it." Her expression said different, and even if it hadn't, Chad Dylan Cooper was no idiot.

Gently he picked up her arm and laid it palm-side up on his lap. Their eyes locked as he did so, both holding hurt. Sonny seemed to clearly say, "don't do this to me," while her lips stayed mute and her body still. Slowly he pushed as many bracelets as he could forward and back, until he found her skin hidden underneath rubber, fabric, metal and blood.

Lightly he ran his fingertips over the scars and wounds, only losing eye contact for a few seconds. Sonny didn't pull away, she just closed off her senses so it was as if he was looking at a wall. A beautiful, crumbling wall. With flowers and shameless battle wounds and stood even when everything else in world crashed down. He moved his hands so he had grasped hers and together they found their fingers intertwined. Sonny's eyes dropped to her lap. She didn't want to see his thoughts.

She was tired of seeing people's thoughts.

Chad leaned forward over the armrest between them and brushed his lips against her cheek and whispered in her ear the lullaby her heart contradicted every day.

"You're beautiful."

He let his lips linger gently on her skin for a few seconds before pulling back and standing, letting the girls hands free. He turned to scooch out of the tight aisle and heard Sonny stand behind him. He felt a tug on the back of his arm and turned to face her. He saw the single tear she had allowed to fall running down her cheek, and in a minute both were wrapped in each other's arms, pressing their bodies as close together as possible, emotions raging.

And they felt content. Chad just holding her broken soul, determined to put it back together and Sonny sorrowfully content and sad at the same time. Because someone cared.

_**/I need a hand to hold, to hold me from the edge, the edge I'm sliding over slowly.\\**_

**Dude. This story is so awkward and rushed it doesn't deserve to live. Agreed? Good. I hate the 'Sonny isn't sunny' stories, so I just want to say that's not what this is...**

**Well...it actually is. Wow. I'm makin sooo much sense, aren't I? In the story, I'm not saying Sonny is putting on an act and she's really just a super emo chick. But sometimes we all need a hand to hold, and sometimes we all have huge issues like that, agreed? I didn't really decide what her issues in life are, I just left it up for grabs. Chad rocks (in this story). That's all. Thanks for reading, muggles! XD**

**-dreamer  
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